Mara Jade Skywalker
"I'm a fighter. I've always been a fighter. The few times when I have been at leisure, I've been miserable. I want challenges, I crave them." -Mara Jade Skywalker Mara Jade Skywalker was, during different times in her life, an Emperor's Hand, a smuggler, and later a Jedi Master who sat upon the Jedi High Council. As an Emperor's Hand, Mara carried out the Emperor's bidding, killing Rebels and corrupt Imperials alike with cold professionalism even as a young woman. After Palpatine's death, she received his last command, which was to kill Luke Skywalker; however, the death of her Master caused her to go rogue. Eventually she joined Talon Karrde, becoming one of his best smugglers and his second-in-command. During the predations of Grand Admiral Thrawn, she was forced to work with Skywalker, and developed a grudging respect for him. Over the years, she would continue working for Karrde and interacting with Luke intermittently, until the two finally realized in 19 ABY that they were in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Mara was skilled in a variety of fields, being a good pilot and mechanic and trained in the use of both a blaster and hand-to-hand combat even without relying on the Force. Her cool demeanor was matched by her quick wit and both helped her stay calm, survive, and emerge victorious even in dangerous situations. As Palpatine's assassin, she received top-notch training from experts in a variety of fields as well as training in the Force, which would be continued by Luke Skywalker years later. After marrying Luke, Mara devoted her life to the New Jedi Order, becoming a Master in her own right. Shortly before the Yuuzhan Vong War, she fell ill due to deadly coomb spores. Using the Force to slow its progress, the disease was only purged from her system after the birth of her son Ben in 26 ABY. After becoming a Master, Mara took her niece Jaina Solo as an apprentice until she reached Knighthood. During this time, Mara participated in Jedi offensives against the Yuuzhan Vong where she aided in the destruction of Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane. Mara was active during the Dark Nest Crisis and the subsequent Swarm War, where she helped to thwart the plans of Raynar Thul and the Killiks, and continued to serve by the side of her husband as a Jedi Master during the Second Galactic Civil War. During that war, Mara was killed by her nephew, Jacen Solo, whom she had learned was a Sith and therefore saw as a threat to her family personally, to the Jedi Order, and to the galaxy at large. Athough she had died her legacy and memory lived on in the hearts of people everywere;especially in her son Ben and her husband Luke. Personality and traits "Sometimes I think you can be spooky just singing nursery songs" ―Elassar Targon to Mara Mara was an extremely proud woman, who always gave her best at everything that she did—this can be seen in her time as an Emperor's Hand. A notable example of this is during her investigation of Moff Glovstoak and the efficiency with which she brought down the corrupt Imperial. However, Mara did not let Glovstoak's fall, or the Emperor's approval, end her mission—Mara continued by delving deeper into the conspiracy, eventually following the clues directly to their source.[10] She refused to serve the warlords who seized power after the Emperor died, feeling that they were beneath her.[13] Additionally, Mara was also extremely devoted, serving what she viewed as Palpatine's will even after his death.[13] She would later display loyalty to Talon Karrde and his organization even at the cost of total alienation from the Empire, and was furious that Thrawn forced her to betray Karrde.[28] Mara later displayed the same commitment to her husband, Luke Skywalker, and her son, Ben Skywalker, even at one point refusing to participate in the defense of Borleias in order to protect Ben.[58] Due to her upbringing under Palpatine, and also to the training she received from the Sith Lord, Mara learned how to maintain a calm and collected composure in almost every situation. During the First Corellian Insurrection, and though she harbored a vendetta against Luke Skywalker, Mara went was able to prioritize the severity of the situation and place her differences with Skywalker aside—she proceeded to warn Leia and the Senate about the recently uncovered plot to destroy the New Republic.[40] During her brief tutelage under Kyle Katarn, Mara was forced to face Kyle in an ancient Temple when he fell to the dark side. While he was fully engaged in the dark powers of the temple, Mara was forced to defend against Katarn's attacks, with Mara managing to fend him off each time. Eventually, Kyle and Mara found themselves deep inside the catacombs of the temple, and Mara voluntarily turned off her lightsaber and surrendered, maintaining her calm composure as she realized she could not longer fight her one-time friend. Due to Mara's self-control, Kyle was eventually redeemed and brought back to the light.[31] Even though Mara exuded a toughened exterior, she was a warm and compassionate individual. Through her love and marriage to Luke Skywalker, Mara was able to realize that her life of constant conflict had not provided her with everything she needed. However, through her experiences and relationship with Luke, she came to acknowledge her love for him and understand what his companionship offered her life[34]—she realized that it was acceptable to let him past her defenses.[43] A small way in which she showed Luke her love for him was through the playful nickname which she constantly called him—''Farmboy''.[2] Mara's love and compassion also managed to manifest itself when she gave birth to her son, Ben, during the Yuuzhan Vong War.[55] The war caused Mara to develop a strong, and somewhat overprotective, demeanor towards Ben, constantly fearing that the war would find him and take him away from her and Luke. After watching the devastation that Anakin's death caused Leia, Mara had no wish to experience that type of emotional pain.[59] Later, during the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War, Mara's love and protectiveness of her son was still evident. She was constantly worrying over Ben and his actions within the GAG, and even up until her death, her love for Luke and Ben was present in her mind. Powers and Abilites "We don't have a lock for the window but there's an alarm on it. You try going out, and it'll be a toss-up as to whether the vornskrs get to you before I do. But don't take my word for it. Try it and find out." ―Mara Jade Just as her personality was diverse, so were the talents that Mara utilized throughout her colored career. Mara was known to be a skilled slicer, breaking into secure files with relative ease[12], though she was not on the same level as Zakarisz Ghent.[21] During Grand Admiral Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic, Talon Karrde was captured by Imperial forces, and Mara took it upon herself to rescue the smuggler leader. Mara was able to sneak aboard Thrawn's ship, Chimaera, and used her slicing abilities to hack the Star Destroyer's computer, eventually reaching the detention block and freeing Karrde.[28] Mara was also a skilled user of multiple types of weaponry, including blaster pistols and rifles, melee weapons, and heavy weapons.[79] She often used blaster pistols,[2][13][29] including a small hideout blaster, which she carried in a sleeve holster.[10] During her life, Mara became an experienced pilot who flew a variety of ships in a number of situations. During the Thrawn Campaign, Mara flew a Z-95 Headhunter and flew against the enemy at the Battle for the Katana fleet, though she was disabled by an ion cannon.[28] During the First Corellian Insurrection, Mara piloted her ship, the Jade's Fire, and used it in several different instances. After she and Leia escaped from the Human League, Mara flew her ship through the enemy forces, and eventually managed to rendezvous with Han Solo on Selonia.[41] Later, Mara flew the Jade's Fire in the final battle at Centerpoint Station, and contributed to the defeat of the Corellian forces.[42] After the First Corellian Insurrection, Mara piloted the Starry Ice in her rescue of Luke, who had ran into trouble with the Cavrilhu Pirates. Luke had unfortunately been discovered during his infiltration of the pirate group, and Mara's skilled hand as a pilot helped Luke survive the encounter.[33] During the Yuuzhan Vong war, Mara distinguished herself during the Second Battle of Borleias when she was made second in command of Blackmoon Squadron. In that position, she provided cover for the Lusankya during Operation Emperor's Spear, which saw the command ship successfully ram a Yuuzhan Vong worldship.[59] During her time as an Emperor's Hand, Mara became skilled in the arts of disguise and infiltration.[10] In 0.5 ABY, Mara used her skills of disguise to infiltrate the court of Moff Glovstoak, posing as Countess Claria. During this mission Mara discovered that Glovstoak had been skimming the top off tax returns to the Imperial Center. Mara managed to sneak through Glovstoak's palace and found that he was in possession of six stolen paintings which were worth millions of credits and the Emperor was provided with the proof he required of the Moff's treason, summarily disposing of Glovstoak.[10] After the destruction of the first Death Star, Mara employed her spy abilities against Darth Vader, recording his actions and delivering reports to the Emperor.[16] In the months prior to the Emperor's Palpatine's death, Mara was sent to Tatooine in an effort to infiltrate Jabba's Palace. Mara disguised herself as the dancing girl Arica, and set her plans in motion while she awaited the arrival of Skywalker.[18] Following the death of the Emperor, Mara found herself on the run from Director Ysanne Isard, however, she managed to escape, disguising herself as a refugee.[11] During her days as a smuggler, Mara often employed her spy abilities for Talon Karrde—she participated in a mission for Karrde to track down Jorj Car'das, where maximized her infiltration skills to complement her spy abilities.[33] Mara's colored life reinforced the skills she needed to be a successful spy. During the outbreak of the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War, Mara's son Ben would brag about her abilities as a spy to Jedi Knight Nelani Dinn.[68] During the Confederation-Galactic Alliance war of 40 ABY, Mara used her talents as a spy to track and watch Jacen, eventually following him to Hapes, where he was visiting his lover Tenel Ka and his daughter Allana.[2] Beginning with her training under Emperor Palpatine, and culminating with her ascension to Jedi Master, Mara continually proved her reputation as an accomplished lightsaber duelist. During the Thrawn campaign, Mara and Luke encountered the crazed Jedi-clone Joruus C'baoth and the dark clone of Luke. While being strengthened by Luke through the Force, Mara was able to defeat the clone, Luuke, and then confronted C'baoth. Mara dodged a bolt of Force lightning that C'baoth threw at her, and managed to stab the insane clone through his chest with her lightsaber.[29] During the Yuuzhan Vong war, Mara and Luke traveled to the ExGal-4 outpost on Belkadan and began an investigation into what had occurred there. During their search, Mara was confronted by the Yuuzhan Vong spy Yomin Carr, and the two proceeded to engage in a violent duel. Mara was evenly matched in skill by the Yuuzhan Vong warrior, who fought with a viciousness Mara had rarely encountered—Mara was startled by her opponent's lack of presence in the Force, his seemingly impenetrable armor, and his strange weapon which could resist a lightsaber's blade. However, Mara was able to defeat Carr by slicing both of his legs off at the knee and stabbing him through the chest.[50] The Yuuzhan Vong war also saw Mara, Luke, and Tahiri encounter the deranged Dark Jedi Lord Nyax, formerly Irek Ismaren. Nyax had been held in an Imperial laboratory on Coruscant, where he had lightsabers surgically implanted in his elbows, knees, and forearms—thus providing him with six lightsaber blades with which to fight. The ensuing lightsaber battle saw the superior strength of Nyax almost completely overwhelm the three Jedi. However, Tahiri was able to make herself invisible in the Force and proceeded to severely wound the Dark Jedi. Ultimately, Mara, Luke, and Tahiri were able to defeat Nyax with relatively little damage, even though Nyax easily slaughtered the Jedi-killing voxyn that the Yuuzhan Vong sent after him.[59] Mara continued to demonstrate her skills with a lightsaber during the Dark Nest Crisis and had also learned the skill of Force lightning, employing it against Alema Rar during the Battle of Kr.[65] She was known to use the Ataru form.[79] During the Second Galactic Civil War, Mara and Luke found themselves confronted by an old enemy—Lumiya. Mara and Luke eventually tracked the Dark Lady and the Dark Jedi Alema Rar to Hapan space where a violent duel took place aboard the space station known as Roqoo Depot. While Luke and Lumiya dueled each other, Mara and Alema entered into a deadly fight—Alema shot at Mara with a poison dart, but Mara was able to defeat the Twi'lek, knocking her unconscious. The Twi'lek only survived because Mara noticed the bomb on her chest that would go off if she was killed.[70] As the war progressed, Mara began to worry about the safety of her son, and decided to hunt down Lumiya and finish her off for good. Mara eventually caught up with Lumiya on Hesperidium and another lightsaber duel took place involving the two women. Mara fought Lumiya to a standstill, and the two women were both left severely wounded. Mara also learned how to hide in the Force from her son in 40 ABY, a skill that would help her in her final pursuit of Jacen Solo— who would be later known as "Darth Caedus".[2] After years of training and battle, Mara's skills with manipulating the Force were well-developed. Even Luke relied on Mara's danger sense more than his own, since Mara had required it to survive as an Imperial agent. Mara's keen danger sense provided her warning of imminent danger and saved her life on numerous occasions.[33] As the Emperor's Hand, she was able to hear Palpatine's voice through the Force[11]—and just prior to her marriage with Luke, she discovered that they had gained a similar telepathic ability.[34] By the time of her ascension to Jedi Master, Mara had became a powerful member of the New Jedi Order. This was evident during the Yuuzhan Vong War when she successfully used the Force to keep her disease from attacking Ben inside her womb.[80] By the time of the Second Galactic Civil War, Mara's talents as a Jedi Master had progressed enough that she was able to levitate herself across an open area on a bubble of Force energy while keeping the air around her stilled and her heat emissions minimal to avoid setting off any sensors.[68] Mara was adept in immediately reading and assessing any situation or individual, and the Emperor gave her memory retention techniques to enhance her abilities.[10] She was also talented enough to secure a number of odd jobs while on the run, including as a hyperdrive mechanic.